Custom Tank Construction

Moving along with the installation of a different tank, we'll go ahead to deliver a tank.

The first picture is of the tank in the back of the truck. You can see two suction cups on the end of the tank. These help to lift and slide the tank, without risking getting a finger stuck underneath. To the right of the tank, the white block is a large section of styrofoam, to place under the tank once it is on the lift table. We needed the extra nine inches of the foam block given the height of the stand, 39", and the maximum height of the table is 36".




In this picture, you can see the tank on the lift table, with the styro blocks under it. Also, you can note three people, plus myself, to deliver the tank. It makes a lot of sense to have extra hands when moving a large fish bowl. You can't see it, but to the right in the picture, we went down a ramp into the parking garage, to use the service elevator to go to the second floor. We nearly had a mishap at the bottom of the ramp, when the large metal gate at the entrance to the garage started to close, just as we were rolling the tank under it. It took two of us to keep the gate up, away from the tank. It would have been the strangest way I've ever seen to break a tank.

I wish I had some in between pictures, rather than jumping to a shot of the tank in place, but this may have been the easiest tank delivery I have ever done, for a tank of this size. It went very smoothly, in part because of preplanning the route to the office, and making sure (with a tape measure) the tank would be able to make the tighter turns. Once we had the lift table next to the stand, everything was done before I could even reach for the camera. You can see the overflow (black box) in the middle of the tank. In this case, the customer is planning for the tank to be in the middle of the room, so it would be viewable from all four sides. This is why the overflow is in the middle of the tank, and not any side.

Lastly, you can see two desks on either end of the tank. The people that work at thses desks are going to have a very nice view by just turning their heads a bit.

More to come as the installation nears completion.

Jason

Custom Tank Construction

Continuing with the custom tank build, the next step is the tank itself. Here is a picture of the tank from one end. You can see inside one overflow, and see the other on the opposite side. Remember, this tank will be viewable from the two larger sides, and the ends with the overflows will be next to the walls.









This will be one of the viewable sides of the tank. You will also note six holes in the bottom of the tank. These will be used for a "closed loop".



A closed loop is used to add circulation to a tank, without having to place powerheads (and the visible cords) in the tank. In this case, we will be using a pump that moves about 15 times the tank volume per hour. The pump will draw water from the two larger holes in the middle, to divide the suction in half, so there is less chance of a fish or invertebrate getting stuck to the suction screen. The other four holes are the returns. Each hole will be connected to a motorized valve, that will alternate through pairs of outlets, and create more random flow than you would get from the pump just running all the time through one outlet.



More to come.
Jason

Custom Tank Construction

When you choose to build a custom tank, there are many things you need to take into consideration. Electrical and water requirements, the weight of the tank when full, and access above and below are just the top of the list.

I will be chronicling the construction of a custom installation in this blog as the job progresses. The tank is to be built in-wall, with an office on one side and the entertainment room on the other. The dimensions of the tank are 52" x 36" x 36" high, and the total system volume should be around 350 gallons.

The first picture is the rough opening where the tank will be located, viewed from the office side.

This picture is a custom steel stand, that has been galvanized to hold up to the salty moisture better. The stand rests directly on the concrete slab, and will be leveled before installation of the tank.




Lastly, we have a close up of the electrical rough in, for under the aquarium. You can see a large white PVC pipe, that is a drain line, to be used for partial water changes. Next to this, you can see a small copper pipe, that will feed the reverse osmosis filter for top off for evaporation.

More to come.

Jason

Tang is not just for astronauts!

Tangs are a popular addition to your aquarium. There are around 80 species, divided across six genera. Tangs are grazing fish, feeding mostly on algae that grows in the tank. They will also eat most prepared foods, as well as benefiting greatly from the addition of dried seaweed.

The one trait all tangs share is the sharp spine on either side of the body, at the base of the tail. These spines are sharp like a scalpel, and serve to give another common name: surgeonfish. The spines are used for defense purposes, as well as intimidation of other fish.

In general, you should keep one tang in an aquarium. The reason for this is tangs have a tendency to be aggressive towards other tangs, since they share the same diet and compete for food. If you have a larger aquarium of 75 or more gallons, it is possible to keep more than one. First, plan on an odd number of fish, say three for example. I would not reccommend trying more than that without a much larger aquarium of at least 300 gallons. Second, all the fish should be of similar size. Third, it is best to introduce all the tangs together (if possible). Lastly, you should make sure to keep all of the tangs well fed during the first few weeks after introductiuon. The more food a fish has in its belly, the less likely they are to squabble.

Purple tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)

The purple tang is one of my favorite tangs. There are not many all (almost) purple fish in the ocean, and, as a species, are one of the hardiest tangs available. As is the case with any hardy fish, they tend to become more territorial as they get established in the tank. If you would like to have multiple tangs and want one to be a purple, I would suggest adding the purple tang last.

Blue eye tang

(Ctenochaetus binotatus)

The blue eye tang comes from a genus of tangs also known as bristletooths. The bristletooths are very effective at grazing diatom algae from live rock, as well as the glass of the aquarium. In general, bristletooths are much less aggressive as tangs go. That said, they will fight with other tangs of the same genus.

Powder blue tang
(Acanthurus leucosternon)

The powder blue tang is always a favorite at aquarium shops. In its genus, the powder blue is one of the smaller tangs, but it still reaches a maximum size around nine inches. The powder blue does best with plenty of swimming room, and plenty of algae to graze on. If necessary, supplement its diet with dried seaweed, or nori.

Yellow tang (Z. flavescens)

The yellow tang adds a big splash of color to any aquarium. It is the first tang most people encounter in an aquarium store. They are collected and shipped in large numbers, and as a consequence, are relatively inexpensive. Slightly less aggressive than the purple tang, yellow tangs can be territorial nonetheless, especially after they have been well established in the tank.

Blue tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)

If you have a small child under the age of 10, then Dory from Disney's "Finding Nemo" should be all too familiar to you. One of the most beautiful tangs in the sea, some consider them a must have. There are color variants from the western Indian Ocean that have a yellow belly, and occasionally a stripe of red along the base of the dorsal fin.



Sohal tang (A. sohal)

Of all the tangs mentioned here, the sohal tang is by far the largest, reaching a maximum size just under 16 inches. A very hardy species, the sohal tang will need a lot of swimming room, with a tank of at least six feet in length as the starting point.

This is just a very small sampling of the tangs avaiable to our hobby. If you have any questions about other tangs, please do not hesitate to email me.

Thanks, Jason